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Special counsel subpoenas former Trump aide Bannon - NYT

By Sarah N. Lynch and Patricia Zengerle

 

Former White House Chief Strategist Stephen Bannon arrives for an interview by the House Intelligence Committee investigating alleged Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. election on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., January 16, 2018. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts

 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump's former chief strategist Steve Bannon has been subpoenaed by Special Counsel Robert Mueller to testify before a grand jury in a probe into alleged ties between Russia and Trump's 2016 presidential campaign, the New York Times reported on Tuesday.

 

It was the first time Mueller is known to have used a subpoena against a member of Trump's inner circle, the Times said. It cited a person with direct knowledge of the matter.

 

A spokesman for Mueller's office declined comment. Bill Burck, a lawyer for Bannon, could not immediately be reached for comment.

 

Bannon, a champion of Trump's "America First" agenda, was among the Republican's closest aides during the 2016 election campaign, the presidential transition and during his first months in office.

 

But the pair had a bitter public falling out over comments Bannon made to author Michael Wolff for his recent book "Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House."

 

In the book, Bannon is quoted as describing a June 2016 meeting between Trump associates, including the president's son Donald Trump Jr., his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, and a Russian lawyer, as "treasonous" and "unpatriotic."

 

The meeting came after Donald Trump Jr. was told in an email that the Russian government had compromising information about Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, to which he replied: "I love it."

 

Bannon was fired by the White House in August and returned to the right-wing news website Breitbart News. He continued to speak with Trump and tried to promote the president's agenda.

 

But Trump accused Bannon of having "lost his mind" when news of his comments to Wolff surfaced earlier this month. Six days later, Bannon stepped down from his post as executive chairman at Breitbart News.

 

PRESSURE TACTIC?

 

Mueller's subpoena, which was issued last week, could be a pressure tactic to induce Bannon to cooperate fully with his investigation, the Times reported.

 

Chicago lawyer Renato Mariotti, a former federal prosecutor, said the most likely reason for a Mueller subpoena of Bannon is that, "He thought having an attorney present and giving Bannon a more relaxed setting would not yield the same testimony as if he got him in the grand jury room with no attorney there and a more adversarial style of questioning."

 

A witness is not permitted to bring their attorney into a federal grand jury proceeding, but can step outside to consult with counsel.

The reported subpoena of Bannon does not mean he is a target of Mueller's criminal investigation.

 

Separately on Tuesday, Bannon spent hours meeting behind closed doors with the House of Representatives Intelligence Committee. He is the latest high-profile figure to testify before the panel as part of its investigation into Russia interference in the U.S. election.

 

Russia has denied meddling in the election and Trump has denied there was any collusion between his campaign and Moscow.

 

Later in the week, the panel will hear from former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski.

 

White House Communications Director Hope Hicks, who served as Trump's spokeswoman during his presidential campaign after a tenure with his Trump Organization real estate business, is also expected to be questioned by the committee this week, according to a congressional source.

 

Democrats on the committee have accused Republicans of rushing to wrap up the probe to help give the president political cover, despite their requests to interview more witness. Republicans have denied the charge.

 

(Additional reporting by Mark Hosenball, David Alexander and Karen Freifeld; Writing by Warren Strobel.; Editing by Leslie Adler and Alistair Bell)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2018-01-17

[Samui Bodoh]

Interesting...

 

While I view Bannon as the human equivalent of some semi-moist, putrid vomit baking in the sun on a sidewalk, to date he has not been connected very strongly to the Russia investigation. Many/most of the events that occurred during the campaign occurred before he took over (Don jr's meeting with the Russians, changing the Rep platform, etc).

 

Bannon as a witness might have knowledge of the transition and/or White House periods, in which case he is likely connected to Flynn. Or perhaps it is simply to confirm the events noted in the recent book (but I doubt it).

 

The noose is getting tighter, Donny Boy! It won't be long before your family is being hauled before the Grand Jury.

 

[tonray]

Bannon must be aware that Mueller's best play is to catch him in a lie, so he faces the choice of protecting Trump and his crime family or saving himself and telling what he knows...if he does the latter likely no charges against him but perhaps he has valuable knowledge to indict Jr. and Javanka.

[Berkshire]

2 hours ago, Samui Bodoh said:

Interesting...

 

While I view Bannon as the human equivalent of some semi-moist, putrid vomit baking in the sun on a sidewalk, to date he has not been connected very strongly to the Russia investigation. Many/most of the events that occurred during the campaign occurred before he took over (Don jr's meeting with the Russians, changing the Rep platform, etc).

 

Bannon as a witness might have knowledge of the transition and/or White House periods, in which case he is likely connected to Flynn. Or perhaps it is simply to confirm the events noted in the recent book (but I doubt it).

 

The noose is getting tighter, Donny Boy! It won't be long before your family is being hauled before the Grand Jury.

 

I'm thinking Bannon may have the goods on Trump related to the obstruction charge.  But he's also made comments related to finances and Trump's tie to Russia from even before he became President (money laundering comes to mind).  Regardless, with Bannon completely out on his own with no loyalties owed, he should be a rather cooperating witness.   

[FritsSikkink]

4 hours since the article and where are the people who have been screaming: which hunt, fake news, nothing happened.

Bannon gets a gag order from the WH for no reason???? 

[Srikcir]

Remember that Bannon served as Cambridge Analytica's vice president and sat on its board (according to The New York Times) before he joined the Trump campaign.

• It was CA's CEO Alexander Nix who contacted Julian Assange to share hacked emails related to Hillary Clinton. Wiki
• WikiLeaks subsequently contacted Donald Trump Jr.

Cambridge Analytica had developed “psychographic” profiling, from data collected online from Facebook and news publishers to create personality profiles for voters. Such profiles allowed CA to target individuals in specific areas with tailored content to help elect Donald Trump.

• Trump campaign hired Cambridge Analytica and specifically Brad Parscale in June 2016 with Kushner overseeing CA's work.

https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/10/16/15657512/mueller-fbi-cambridge-analytica-trump-russia

So Bannon might have direct or indirect (ie., to corroborate sources for direct testimony) knowledge of the Trump Campaign contacts with WikiLeaks and Russian hackers who might have relied on those profiles to create divisive and false messages to discredit Hillary  and promote Trump agendas.

PS: Bannon cannot claim presidential executive privilege in testimony before a grand jury. He can claim the 5th Amendment but only relative to evidence that might be used against him, but not against others.